1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of sound and air within a person's mouth to enable that person to speak and more particularly to a mechanism that combines an audible sound with an airflow while transporting this combination to the person's mouth to be articulated as speech.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many persons are deprived of speech because of the inability of their larynx to produce sound and, in some cases, the inability to exhale through the mouth. Specifically, a person with a respirator tube positioned in the mouth and down the throat cannot speak since the tube is controlling their breathing and also blocking the larynx.
In the prior art, a tracheostomy tube was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,492 to Latham that permits a person with a tracheostomy, a respirator tube entering at the base of the throat, to speak by providing dual airflow. The first flow of air is provided to the lungs for breathing and a second flow of air is provided to the upper throat through the larynx to allow speech. However, in a situation where the patient does not have a tracheostomy but rather has the respirator tube entering into the mouth and going down the throat, the larynx is still blocked preventing speech.
Several attempts have been made at producing audible sound within a person's mouth from a sound source external to the person's mouth. U.S. Pat. No. 2,041,487 entitled "Artificial Larynx" to Riesz provides a diaphragm mechanism that produces a sound that is transmitted through a tube into a person's mouth allowing the person to speak. U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,472 entitled "Electronic Artificial Larynx" to Lennox also contains a tone generator connected to a pair of eye galsses worn by the patient. The tone generator is connected to a tube that transmits the sound to the person's mouth for speech. U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,221 entitled "Speech Aid" to Cooper et al also provides a sound generator connected to a tube which is connected to a mechanism held by the patient's teeth that enables sound waves to be transmitted inside the patient's mouth for speech. U.S. Pat. No. 2,273,077 entitled "Means and Method of Producing Sound Effects" to Wright illustrates an external sound generating source connected to a tube with the tube inserted into a person's nose to transmit sound into the mouth cavity. All of these perior art patents produce sound for articulation by the patient. However, the sound produced requires breathing for proper articulation. In instances, where the sound is produced with little breathing, the articulation of the sound becomes difficult.
It is the object of the present invention to produce sound capable of articulation without requiring the patient to breath.